Death Penalty decision imminent for Boston Bomber

[Ban my account ffs!]

Bridge collapses in Minnesota killing 13 people because of faulty gusset plates that had succumbed to the stress of all the weight and corrosive road salts and pigeon poop... and the bridge, designed so that the bridge fails if one component fails, collapsed.

13 dead.  Later that year, 5 Republicans in the state house vote to override the governor's veto on a gas tax increase to fund extra bridge maintenance and repair and the GOP goes on a witch hunt to get them primaried.  I believe one of those 5 remain in office today.

Boston bombing:  3 dead.  TWO PEOPLE HAVE TO DIE FOR THIS!!

What is wrong with you people?

Literally comparing a purposeful, targeted terrorist attack to a bridge collapsing due to lack of maintenance. Probably one of the worst analogies I've ever seen on the intertubes (and that's saying something).

Oh... when people die at the hands of an angry martyr, maybe they do deserve to die.  But I believe in mercy over retribution.

But when 4 times more people die at the hands of apathy, basic human incompetency, and partisan politics, that's infuriating.  Because nobody will get the blame.  The system is designed that way on purpose.

While Tsarnaev is responsible for the death and suffering of many, he is but a tiny cog in a larger machine that we, if we put our minds to it, could ultimately help fix.

But no.. you don't get to know his motives.  That's classified.  You just need to know that he's gonna die for what he did.

I don't care if you don't like my analogies, Icespear... I already gathered enough info about you from your previous posts in this thread to make a character judgment.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

A clear violation of Massachusetts' sovereignty.

Actually, Federal law goes the extra mile and specifies that the method of execution to be used (in those states that have the death penalty) is to be that which the state uses for its own capital punishment.

[free my dawg]

I just wish I could pull the lever.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

I just wish I could pull the lever.

If he's executed there's not going to be a lever.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I am usually against the death penalty in general, but yeah, this is literally the one crime that it should be reserved for. If this guy had any balls, and was truly devoted to his cause, he would have strapped those bomb laden backpacks on and committed a suicide bombing. Unlike the 9/11 hijackers or Tim McVeigh, who were truly committed to their evil causes, Tsarnaev was an angry kid who couldn’t make it in America and killed innocents to avenge the perceived slight.

I just wish I could pull the lever.

Same.

[bedstuy]

If you're going to have the death penalty, which I think we should, there's no better case for it than this guy.  You don't have to see it as revenge, think of it as rehabilitation for the rest of the world that doesn't need to have this miscreant living on the planet.

[IceSpear]

Bridge collapses in Minnesota killing 13 people because of faulty gusset plates that had succumbed to the stress of all the weight and corrosive road salts and pigeon poop... and the bridge, designed so that the bridge fails if one component fails, collapsed.

13 dead.  Later that year, 5 Republicans in the state house vote to override the governor's veto on a gas tax increase to fund extra bridge maintenance and repair and the GOP goes on a witch hunt to get them primaried.  I believe one of those 5 remain in office today.

Boston bombing:  3 dead.  TWO PEOPLE HAVE TO DIE FOR THIS!!

What is wrong with you people?

Literally comparing a purposeful, targeted terrorist attack to a bridge collapsing due to lack of maintenance. Probably one of the worst analogies I've ever seen on the intertubes (and that's saying something).

Oh... when people die at the hands of an angry martyr, maybe they do deserve to die.  But I believe in mercy over retribution.

But when 4 times more people die at the hands of apathy, basic human incompetency, and partisan politics, that's infuriating.  Because nobody will get the blame.  The system is designed that way on purpose.

While Tsarnaev is responsible for the death and suffering of many, he is but a tiny cog in a larger machine that we, if we put our minds to it, could ultimately help fix.

But no.. you don't get to know his motives.  That's classified.  You just need to know that he's gonna die for what he did.

I don't care if you don't like my analogies, Icespear... I already gathered enough info about you from your previous posts in this thread to make a character judgment.

How is throwing a guy in jail to rot for the rest of his life with no possibility of parole any more "merciful" than the death penalty? Many people would prefer death over spending the rest of their life in a jail cell.

You implied legislators voting against a bill after the bridge already collapsed were worse than terrorists who directly killed three people, destroyed several families, left dozens of people limbless and unable to walk for the rest of their life, and caused strife to all of their families and even the nation at large.

No matter what we or society does, there are always going to be violent sociopathic nutjobs like this guy. The only place those won't exist is in utopian fantasy novels. His motives are irrelevant to his actions, because no possible motive could ever justify them, except to other sociopaths such as him.

As for character judgments, it's very easy to make one as well about the guy who nonchalantly describes the Boston bombings as "3 deaths" while glossing over the countless others who were affected. Something tells me you'd feel much less compassion if it was one of your family members who died or became paralyzed for the rest of their life due to an evil nutjob. But since I don't know you, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and just assume you had a brainfart that you decided to double down on. It's less depressing that way.

[Ban my account ffs!]

I had a mother that became paralyzed for the rest of her life when I was 9 because a doctor cut open an infected spot and the infection spread into her blood.

But she never sued the guy because he also saved her life. 

So given my unique experience I tend to have unusual views on the subject.  Maybe he could do some good in prison.  It wouldn't bring those people back to life or give people their limbs back.  But it might help somebody else.

There was already enough death.

[IceSpear]

I had a mother that became paralyzed for the rest of her life when I was 9 because a doctor cut open an infected spot and the infection spread into her blood.

But she never sued the guy because he also saved her life. 

So given my unique experience I tend to have unusual views on the subject.  Maybe he could do some good in prison.  It wouldn't bring those people back to life or give people their limbs back.  But it might help somebody else.

There was already enough death.

Sorry to hear that, but surely you recognize the difference between a doctor making a mistake and a terrorist having a goal to kill as many innocents as possible. I'm sure if the doctor PURPOSELY paralyzed your mother, you'd both have wanted him prosecuted to the furthest extent of the law.

[Ban my account ffs!]

And no icespear:  What happened is this:

Bridge collapses, but legislature is strongly DFL controlled.  But not a veto proof majority in the house.  Democrats craft a bill that includes a 5-cent-per-gallon gas tax increase to fund bridge maintenance, repair, and upgrades.  Pawlenty, who is anti-tax, vetoes the bill.  Given that this occurred soon after a bridge collapsed, killing 13 people while the state DOT was under his Lt. Gov's watch, 5 house GOPers broke with the rest of the GOP and voted with the DFL to override, thus allowing the gas tax to increase (and our bridges are in much better shape now than they were in 2007).

My point is:  The same type of people who have no personal connection to the Boston Bomber but want blood... are the same types that saw it morally acceptable to block a tax increase to increase much needed maintenance and upgrades of bridges that were falling way behind and aging... despite 13 people dying and 145 being injured after a catastrophic bridge failure that was due to HUMAN error.

I think we should put less weight on retribution for a terrorist act and more weight on preventing deaths on things we actually have some control over.

[Ban my account ffs!]

I had a mother that became paralyzed for the rest of her life when I was 9 because a doctor cut open an infected spot and the infection spread into her blood.

But she never sued the guy because he also saved her life. 

So given my unique experience I tend to have unusual views on the subject.  Maybe he could do some good in prison.  It wouldn't bring those people back to life or give people their limbs back.  But it might help somebody else.

There was already enough death.

Sorry to hear that, but surely you recognize the difference between a doctor making a mistake and a terrorist having a goal to kill as many innocents as possible. I'm sure if the doctor PURPOSELY paralyzed your mother, you'd both have wanted him prosecuted to the furthest extent of the law.

Motives are important... but should not decide whether a person should live or die.

If you accidentally launch a nuke and kill 600,000 people... I could maybe say "yeah just kill the stupid SOB"... but the U.S. government is just promoting and encouraging retribution and it just does it for you so that there isn't a retribution/revenge death spiral.

[MaxQue]

The title is biaised. We shouldn't say "death penalty", but "state-sponsored murder".

[IceSpear]

My point is:  The same type of people who have no personal connection to the Boston Bomber but want blood... are the same types that saw it morally acceptable to block a tax increase to increase much needed maintenance and upgrades of bridges that were falling way behind and aging... despite 13 people dying and 145 being injured after a catastrophic bridge failure that was due to HUMAN error.

I agree with you that those Republican legislators who voted against it were despicable, assuming they didn't propose some other way of funding the needed bridge repairs. But I still think your comparison between negligence and incompetence and direct targeted murder of as many innocent civilians as possible is beyond the pale. Besides, it's not like it's just Republicans that want this guy to get death. I'm sure even many people who usually oppose the death penalty do.

[Paul Kemp]

Why does the thread title leave out the word "decision"? The entire title of the article is "Death penalty decision imminent in Boston bombing." Leaving that one word out makes it a bit misleading, no?

Anyway, as a great Russian competitor once said many years ago: "if he dies, he dies..."

[Ban my account ffs!]

My point is:  The same type of people who have no personal connection to the Boston Bomber but want blood... are the same types that saw it morally acceptable to block a tax increase to increase much needed maintenance and upgrades of bridges that were falling way behind and aging... despite 13 people dying and 145 being injured after a catastrophic bridge failure that was due to HUMAN error.

I agree with you that those Republican legislators who voted against it were despicable, assuming they didn't propose some other way of funding the needed bridge repairs. But I still think your comparison between negligence and incompetence and direct targeted murder of as many innocent civilians as possible is beyond the pale. Besides, it's not like it's just Republicans that want this guy to get death. I'm sure even many people who usually oppose the death penalty do.

When somebody needs mercy the most... is when we take it away.

Do you advocate the death penalty for the 16 year old in Texas that got 4 people killed by driving drunk on a joy ride?  He killed more than Tsarnaev!  Not to mention that Tsarnaev's dead accomplice seemed to be the mastermind in this case.  He just helped.

AND *his* defense was that he was so fabulously rich that he didn't know any better!

Tsarnaev obviously had more complex reasoning in his motives.  But maybe we should off the guy who got the booze for the 16 year old kid!  What were his motives?

But here the difference seems to be that Tsarnaev wanted his act to come with a big "BOO!!!" while the drunken Texan pissant never meant to kill anyone as he swerved around the road into an oncoming vehicle.  

[IceSpear]

My point is:  The same type of people who have no personal connection to the Boston Bomber but want blood... are the same types that saw it morally acceptable to block a tax increase to increase much needed maintenance and upgrades of bridges that were falling way behind and aging... despite 13 people dying and 145 being injured after a catastrophic bridge failure that was due to HUMAN error.

I agree with you that those Republican legislators who voted against it were despicable, assuming they didn't propose some other way of funding the needed bridge repairs. But I still think your comparison between negligence and incompetence and direct targeted murder of as many innocent civilians as possible is beyond the pale. Besides, it's not like it's just Republicans that want this guy to get death. I'm sure even many people who usually oppose the death penalty do.

When somebody needs mercy the most... is when we take it away.

Do you advocate the death penalty for the 16 year old in Texas that got 4 people killed by driving drunk on a joy ride?  He killed more than Tsarnaev!  Not to mention that Tsarnaev's dead accomplice seemed to be the mastermind in this case.  He just helped.

AND *his* defense was that he was so fabulously rich that he didn't know any better!

Tsarnaev obviously had more complex reasoning in his motives.  But maybe we should off the guy who got the booze for the 16 year old kid!  What were his motives?

But here the difference seems to be that Tsarnaev wanted his act to come with a big "BOO!!!" while the drunken Texan pissant never meant to kill anyone as he swerved around the road into an oncoming vehicle.  

No, I don't, because he's a minor and also because there was no premeditation. I do think his punishment should've been much heavier than it actually was though. Of course it wasn't because the justice system is built for the rich, but that's a discussion for another day.

Complex motive does not mean good motive and certainly does not mean justifiable motive. I'm sure the nutjob who shot Gabby Giffords had a very complex motive in his warped mind. I don't particularly care what it was though.

[The Arizonan]

My post got deleted for some reason, but I'm going to reply again to this thread.

Why the hell did Tsarnaev get special treatment? And by special treatment, I mean him being placed in isolation away from other people in the prison system.

The guy is a terrorist and that's the only thing that matters in this topic. If he gets the death penalty, then he had it coming.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Tsarnaev is clearly a well reasoned adult here.  I'm glad everyone does all the maturing they're gonna do between 16 and 21.

[Foucaulf]

I used to believe in the death penalty, then I opposed it because I thought the state must not kill anyone. But now I oppose it for the reactions in this thread; bystanders thirsty for a chance to enjoy the death of a human being. Maybe this is biological in nature?

Some people are more justified in their retribution than others. They are free to insult him and cast upon him plagues. The death penalty problem is one of norm-settling over the whole nation, and is a different matter entirely. Their pleasure will not bring back the dead, nor will they console those hurt.

Let him stay in prison for life. Each person can pay a little bit to keep him alive, as a sign of our collective failure to prevent this.

[Goldwater]

Good.

[Franzl]

The death penalty is always wrong... justice is one thing, revenge is another.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

A clear violation of Massachusetts' sovereignty.

The death penalty being used or his prosecution altogether?

[The Arizonan]

Why can't we just put him in one of those federal prisons like for serious offenders?

[Hifly]

The death penalty is always wrong... justice is one thing, revenge is another.

[morgieb]

Mixed here. While I oppose the death penalty, I also think this guy is a clear scumbag who deserves what he gets.